Crohn's Disease and Colostrum

warning: Illegal string offset 'data' in /home/immun459/public_html/includes/tablesort.inc on line 110.

warning: Illegal string offset 'data' in /home/immun459/public_html/includes/tablesort.inc on line 110.

Wed, 11/05/2008 - 09:24 — Avinaut

Colostrum and Crohns disease

Dear consumer,

Your question about colostrum and Crohns disease has been forwarded tome. I am a business and technology consultant with extensive knowledgeabout the formation of colostrum and its applications in humans and animals.

Idiopathic inflammatory bowel disease consists of Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. Crohn'sdisease can affect any part of the gastrointestinal tract, from the mouth to the anus, and is knownas regional enteritis, terminal ileitis, or granulomatous colitis. Ulcerative colitis is limited to thecolon and rectal involvement is present 95% of the time. It has long been known that thedevelopment of Crohn's disease somehow involves infection with Mycobacteriumparatuberculosis, a relative of the bacterium that causes tuberculosis. Researchers originallybelieved that it was the primary cause of the disease, but now recognize that there areautoimmune manifestations associated with the disease and know that disease development ismuch more complicated than originally believed. There are many different levels of diseasemanifestation, but most people with the disease experience gastrointestinal distress due to bowelinflammation, persistent diarrhea and wasting associated with diminished nutritional uptake.These individuals are also much more susceptible than normal to enteric (gut) infections.Routine utilization of very high quality bovine colostrum, such as that distributed by Immune-Tree, would be very advantageous to affected individuals for a number of reasons.

1. Insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) is a hormone-like substance found in colostrum. IGF-1 isthe triggering substance for a whole superfamily of 87 proteins that control most of the processesin every cell in the body. One of the major functions is regulation of the metabolic pathway bywhich the body converts glucose (sugar) to glycogen. Glycogen is stored in the muscles and theliver and is the main source of energy when the muscles are exercised. Another major functionof IGF-1 and the superfamily is regulating how cells use amino acids to build proteins. Havingsufficient IGF-1 available is extremely important in metabolically compromised individuals andis essential to reversing the wasting aspects of the disease.

2. Another function of the IGF superfamily is the repair of damaged cells. Most of the proteinsin the superfamily are present in almost every cell in the body, but require activation anddirection by the attachment of IGF-1 to specific sites on a cell's surface. Again, having sufficientIGF-1 available is critical to affect cell repair.

3. Colostrum also contains a number of gut protective factors that can act in concert to controlenteric infections. Some of the most important ones are:

a) The IgA immunoglobulins directed against various bacteria and viruses,like E. coli, Staph. aureus, etc., that can attack the gut and, moreparticularly, weakened tissue. IgA will not only attach itself to amicroorganism, but can also attach itself to tissue and immobilize theinvading agent, letting other factors act to destroy it.

b) Lactoferrin and transferrin are iron-binding proteins. Certainbacteria and some viruses that invade the gut require iron to reproduceand, when this substance is withheld, they will die.

c) Lysozyme and lactoperoxidase are powerful enzymes that can attach tobacteria and eat holes through their outer wall.

4. One of the problems is making sure that a substantial portion of these biologically activesubstances gets through the stomach and into the intestines where they are needed. This isaccomplished by using complete first milking colostrum that contains all of the fat and casein,like the colostrum products distributed by Immune-Tree. Although some manufacturers say thatthe fat and casein have no role in colostrum, that is utter nonsense. The human stomach containsan enzyme, rennin, that is also found in bovines and other species. Rennin acts on the fat andcasein in dairy products to form a soft cheese-like curd that protects the biologically activesubstances against the enzymes and acid environment of the stomach, allowing the substances toeither pass through within the curd as it disintegrates and/or to be absorbed into the circulation.

To your good health - always.

Sincerely,

Alfred E. Fox, Ph.D.

Dr. Alfred E. Fox holds a Ph.D. from Rutgers University in Microbiology (Immunochemistry)and has more than 25 years of senior management experience at Carter-Wallace, Baxter DadeDivision and Warner-Lambert, where he was responsible for research and development andregulatory affairs. He was also the founder and president of two biotechnology companiesfocused on agribusiness and environmental monitoring, respectively. For the past 15 years, Dr.Fox has been the President of Fox Associates, a business and technology consulting firm servingsmall- to mid-size companies in the human and animal healthcare fields. He focuses primarilyon marketing and regulatory issues and for the past 10 years has continuously consulted tobovine colostrum manufacturers, where he has gained regulatory approval for their products,been a technical advisor, helped design and develop marketing strategies and served as anexpert witness in legal matters.